Monday 27 April 2009

FAT - YOU NEED IT!

I'm still annoyed. Everytime I walk into a chemist there's a massive point of sale display for Alli, and I'm sure the dreaded pills are selling like hot cakes. One of the assistants in my local chemist told me she'd taken it, and made the mistake of eating a slice of pizza (well there you go, if you eat pizza you are asking for trouble aren't you whether you take Alli or not?!!!!!) and within seconds she'd had an accident down below.Sorry, but the whole thing really makes me feel ill.

So, todays blog is all about fat - one of the major macro nutrients and therefore something that we can't actually live without. Suggest again you really don't take Alli and send fat through your body at a hundred miles an hour - let your body do what it needs to do with it, just make sure you eat the right kind.

Why do we need fat? Lots of reasons, all important to varying degrees - here's a very simple basic list :

To make hormones

For energy (we store it for use when we need it)

For insulation, to keep warm

It gives us shape (whether we like it or not!)

It cushions the skin (be a bit painful otherwise)

It's a necessary part of every cell membrane

It helps nerve endings fire, so we can talk, walk, run, speak etc.

It promotes healthy skin, nails and hair

It helps transport fat soluble vitamins around the body from food - A, D, E and K

And lots more besides, so as you can see to take a pill that's going to pass fat straight through your body is depriving it of a very necessary, fundamental substance so please, please don't do it. There are far simpler, safer ways to release fat if you are overweight, none of which are quick fixes but I'll hold your hand all the way and we'll do it together. You just have to be in the right mindset; so, so determined.

Types of fats can be confusing but basically the ones to avoid eating totally are the hydrogenated, trans fats that your body doesn't know what to do with and so stores as a toxin. These fats are mainly found in processed CRAP foods so are relatively easy to keep out of the diet if you only buy wholesome fresh foods to prepare yourself. Actually, alot of the supermarkets are now guaranteeing that their own label products don't contain these 'nasties' but it's still worth going down the 'prepare yourself' route at least 80 per cent of the time just to be on the safe side.

Also, avoid low fat products - they've been 'tampered' with to remove the fat making them more processed and other things may have been added to increase the taste. Better going for full fat but less of it (depending on your metabolic type - contact me for details).

The best fats to include in your diet are poly and mono unsaturates. Polyunsaturates are the omegas - 3s and 6s. Omega 6s are common in our diets as they're used in lots of processed foods - found particulalry in vegeatable oils. Omega 3s we generally need to eat more of, and they can be found in oily fish, green leafy vegetables, linseeds and kidney beans. They help reduce inflammation, keep arteries flexible and are vital for brain function.
Too many omega 6s can promote inflammation - the equivalent of two tablesspoons of oil a day is sufficient in an adult diet.

Monounsaturates are found in oilve oil, and nuts particularly hazelnuts, pecans, macadamias, and avacadoes (my favourite food of all time)and amongst other things help with cholesterol.

Saturated fats, if good quality, organic and therefore naturally raised are absolutely fine to eat and are in fact necessary for insulating organs, forming sex hormones etc. Grass fed beef is a great source of saturated fat, as is one of the most versatile of foods - the coconut (see earlier blog for health benefits and they are many).

Unfortunately we tend to eat too much by way of processed foods ; meat pies, cakes and biscuits - all those visits to Greggs and Ainsleys at lunchtime may be quick and tasty,but you're doing yourself no favours. Too many of these bad saturates can clog up your arteries and increase the risk of heart diesase and strokes, and being overweight just is not where we want to be. It puts pressure on the joints, your organs, causes diabetes and allsorts of other diseases, AND puts a major strain on the NHS (and the government will never sort this because of the mutli national companies selling CRAP foods bringing in so much money to the country).

So there you have it. Fat is a good thing. Low fat diets are generally not unless medically supervised, so the Alli thing, just leave it well alone........please.

Today's Tip : (not done one of these for a while) think about what you're putting inside you. Respect your body and allow it to do its work efficiently and effectively by not feeding it CRAP.

Tuesday 21 April 2009

Adult Nappies

Hurray for GlaxoSmithKline and their new 'anti obesity wonder drug' ALLI, which the FDA have approved to be sold over the counter. No longer will we have any weight issues in the world, all we have to do is pop three tiny pills a day and hey presto all our fat issues will be solved once and for all. Really, they claim it's that easy.

One slight problem is that if you take these little miracle pills you may experience a few side effects, but then isn't that to be totally expected, and accepted, with conventional medicine anyway. After all, who's suprised when they get thrush from a course of antibiotics - you just take more pills to get rid of that don't you?

But the side effects with ALLI are a little less socially acceptable than thrush - namely flatulence and rectal discharge. Yes, you heard, rectal discharge! For goodness sake, are they going to give away free adult sized nappies for us all to wear too?

I'm gob smacked, outraged and horrified that in the name of making an extremely large profit, these people who must have SOME intelligence between them think it's ok to sell such shit (excuse the pun) to the general public. Many of whom are so desperate for a quick, lazy, easy way to shift their blubber they will try anything.

I heard a girl interviewed on the radio today who said when she took ALLI she had to take three outfits of clothes into work with her because she kept having 'accidents', and another who said ALLI caused her so much embarrassment during her first relationship with a guy.

What is wrong with the world when we expect our lives to be made better, and our body's to look and feel better by taking three little pills a day. Most people who are overweight have emotional issue that go with it, which pill popping will NOT cure, and with side effect like the ones mentioned you'd have to be certified crazy to even contemplate having a go.

We have become a nation of 'quick fixes' - we want and expect everything yesterday, and weight loss if no different. But if we have any respect for our bodys whatsoever, even a tiny, weeny, little bit we might think about what is actually happening inside them when we pop these weight loss pills.

The science behind them is that they reduce fat absorption, so it's transported quickly out of the body with no fuss - other than some soiled clothing (yuk, yuk, yuk). But, and it is a big but - our body's NEED fat.Our brains need it to function efficiently, we need it for hormone production, we need it for insulation, we need it for our nerves to fire, we just NEED it.

The right sort, of course, not hydrogenated, trans fats which are in so many processed foods now but ALLI doesn't differentiate between types of fat, it lumps it all together and rushes it through with no time to enjoy the ride. It deprives our bodys of one of the vital nutrients, and that's a good thing?! Absolutely not!

It's time to get a grip - you can probably tell I am really really incensed by this one. The likes of Lighter Life and Sure Slim and Celebrity Slim and all those other miracle diets have nothing on this (side effects from these by the way - just gallstones! That's ok then.); ALLI gets the star prize.

What the hell is wrong with upping ones physical acttivity and reducing the amount of food one stuffs into ones mouth without thinking about the consequences. Yes this may take a little longer to produce results than ALLI but at least your clothes will be stain free, and your body will be absorbing the good fats it so desperatly needs.

Do I have a minority view here? Please, please lets have some comments!

Todays Tip : change one thing about your diet for the better each week. You know you can. RX

Wednesday 15 April 2009

HEALTHY DIGESTION

I've been chatting to some clients recently about their eating habits and how they digest foods. Seems like there are an awful lot of undesirable symptoms going on following meals including bloating, burping, constipation, acid reflux, gurgling, griping pains and I could go on. And judging by the number of over the counter medicines relating to digestion we are a nation of people who could do with some assistance in this area.

So, todays blog includes tips for a healthy digestion and even if you add in one a week you'll be doing your gut a big favour. I'm sure I've covered most of this stuff before but it's always good to re evaluate, especially after Easter!

1. Don't do anything other than eat ie. concentrate on your meal (no tv watching, reading the paper etc. at the same time).

2. Play relaxing musci - so the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in and aids digestion.

3. Drink 2 glasses of water , clean and freash (filtered or mineral) 15 minutes before each meal. This stimulates digestive juices (alcohol on its own irritates the gut and activates the sympathetic nervous system which shuts down digestion).

4. Limit the use of dehydrated foods, as they often get stuck to the colon wall where they draw moisture out.

5. Avoid any foods you are intolerant towards or allergic to.

6. Chew food until it is liquidified.

7. Eat smaller meals more often (5-6 times per day). It's easier to digest and absorb than 3 meals.

8. Never supress the urge to go to the toilet. If you supress teh urge to defecate each day for as little as a week to three weeks you could cause a permanent traffic
jam. This disrupts digestion/inhibits absorption of nutrients and increases the toxicity of the bowel.

9. Wherever possible start your meal with raw (live) foods. All raw foods contain enzymes beneficial to digestion ie. pineapple and papaya aid digestion of meals.

10. Chew a handful of dried rice each morning.

11. Take digestive enzymes during your meal.

12. You should have a bowel movement 20-30 minutes after eating every meal, if your pooh train is operating on time.

13. Do the colon transit test - eat sweetcorn or beetroot and see how long it takes to come through.

14. To overcome parasites invading your gut and upsetting your gut flora, eat organic foods, raw foods, raw garlic, bentonite clay, chew your food, and keep your stress levels down.

15. Get your METABOLIC TYPE tested, this should automatically sort out some food issues. Contact me for further details or read earlier blog posts.

THE BODY IS THE BEST HEALER OF ALL< IF WE JUST LET IT DO ITS WORK.
RX

Tuesday 14 April 2009

PIZZA!

Craig Ballantyne is an American fitness guru and a top guy. He's really, really innovative with exercise and diet and now has a show that's running in the states on the subject of DIET V EXERCISE , aiming to prove that no matter how hard we try we cannot out train a bad diet. Ie. if you eat CRAP foods in large proportions, no matter how much exercise you do you will NOT lose weight. Check out this video, hilarious, but sooooooo true! Next time you're tucking into your pizza and coke remember it!

PLEASE GUYS, WATCH THIS STUFF, IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE BUT SUCH A SIMPLE DEMONSTATION OF WHERE LOTS OF US ARE GOING REALLY, REALLY WRONG. RX


Saturday 4 April 2009

FAR INFRARED SAUNAS

I've just had a minor operation, which I thought long and hard about having as general anaesthetics are full of chemcials and no one wants that stuff pumped around their body if they can avoid it.

I had it on Thursday, and all went smoothly, I was apparently only 'out' for about 25 minutes but boy has it taken its toll on my poor body and mind! Thursday night it was like my brain had been invaded by strange aliens and made my behaviour well wierd (ask some friends, they thought I'd seriously lost the plot) and then yesterday I was totally wiped out by lunchtime, and have slept pretty much since then.

To help rid my body of these 'nasties' (I'm not knocking conventional medicine in this case, am grateful to the surgeon and there is currently no other main stream way to put people to sleep without using chemicals) I've been using a four pronged attack.

Firstly, sleep works wonders for everything; it allows the body precious time to repair and recover and it's just bliss so the more of this the better.

Secondly, hydration is key to recovery from anything, plenty of clean water, herbal and fruit teas help flush the toxins out.

Thirdly, I've been taking mega doses of probiotics (and I mean mega) to make sure my intestinal flora is balanced and able to cope with this sudden influx of strange stuff that it's not used to dealing with.

And fourthly, which is what I really wanted to blog about, I've been using a FAR Infrared Sauna blanket.

Why, because it helps the body to detoxify and reduces the toxic load sufficiently so that the body is able to heal itself. The body is a miraculous thing, and can heal all sorts of problems and illnesses if allowed to, but sometimes because we mess about with it it needs a helping hand.

The Far Infrared Sauna blanket is my helping hand!

It works like a sauna in that you lie inside it, switch it on, and it heats up, but the advantage of the Far Infrared Thermal Treatment is that it's a much lower temperature than a regular sauna and the rays also penetrate deeper, offering an extremely comfortable and more efficient means of chemical,heavy metal and pesticide detoxification.

And it's soooooooo relaxing - I fell asleep!

These 'saunas'come in lots of guises, heat pads, blankets, full sauna units for more than one person, and portable sauna units and can be used every day.

They're really popular in America, and if you're interested covered in detail in the book Detoxify Or Die by Sherry Rogers. An absolutely brilliant book all about ridding the body of the chemicals we take in every day without even realising.

Mine came from a company called Get FITT Ltd who work with doctors, nurses and health practioners in the Uk and Europe. They use the sauna treatments to restore optimum health, and improve quality of life.

FAR Treatments can help people suffering from arthritis, asthma, chronic fatigue syndrome,ME, migraines, fibromyalgia, and other debilitating conditions.

It's really important to keep hydrated when using the sauna, as it is with any sauna. So drink before and after sessions to replenish the body.

Check it out at www.get-fitt.com

I'm just going to have a snooze in mine - Bring it on!Yum! RX

Todays Tip : do at least one random act of kindness today.